A hub-and-spoke circuit drives pheromone attraction and social behaviour in C. elegans

Evan Z. Macosko, Navin Pokala, Evan H. Feinberg, Sreekanth H. Chalasani, Rebecca A. Butcher, Jon Clardy and Cornelia I. Bargmann ()
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Evan Z. Macosko: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
Navin Pokala: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
Evan H. Feinberg: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
Sreekanth H. Chalasani: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA
Rebecca A. Butcher: Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
Jon Clardy: Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
Cornelia I. Bargmann: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Laboratory of Neural Circuits and Behavior, The Rockefeller University, 1230 York Avenue, New York, New York 10065, USA

Nature, 2009, vol. 458, issue 7242, 1171-1175

Abstract: A worm in a social whirl The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, with a neuronal circuit consisting of just 302 neurons, can lay claim to being the simplest animal with a social brain. 'Social' strains of C. elegans elect to aggregate when there are bacteria to be eaten, but solitary strains do not. A new study now identifies the RMG inter/motor neuron pair as the hub for the neuronal computations involved in the integration of multiple sensory cues and making the decision to socialize. The RMG neurons are at the centre of a hub-and-spoke circuit, linking to neighbouring sensory neurons through nonsynaptic 'gap junctions'. The circuit controls the way in which neurons respond to pheromone gradients.

Date: 2009
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07886

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